盘问某人

 　　李华和Larry说好一起看电影，可是李华等了好久Larry才到。

　　LH: Larry，你跑哪里去了，怎么这么晚才来嘛!我买好电影票在这里等你等了20分钟了!

　　LL: Hey, don't give me the third degree! I'm a little late because my mom called, that's all.

　　LH: 原来是你妈妈打电话给你。对了，你又说我什么啦，我给你third degree?那是什么意思?

　　LL: To give someone the third degree means to question that person aggressively in order to get him/her to confess¹ to something.

　　LH: To give someone the third degree就是盘问某人的意思。我可没有盘问你的意思。我只是等你等了很久，都快发火了嘛!

　　LL: Sorry. I didn't expect my mom to call. My mom gave me the third degree, too. She wanted to know why I haven't called her in such a long time.

　　LH: 你妈也质问你为什么这么久没打电话回家。那你是怎么跟她说的?

　　LL: I just told her that I've been really busy. The truth is that I avoid calling her, because every time I do call her, she gives me the third degree about something.

　　LH: 你也别这样，我想你妈不是真的在骂你，或生你的气;她只是很关心你，很担心你嘛!

　　LL: You're probably right, but sometimes she asks so many questions that it really feels like I'm getting the third degree.

　　LH: 如果你怕你妈问东问西的，也许你应该经常打电话给她。这样她就不会这么操心，也不会老是追问你一堆问题喽!Then she won't give you the third degree.

　　LL: You know, Li Hua, that's a good idea!

1 confess   

vt.承认，坦白；vi.承认，坦白，忏悔

参考例句：

• Many Christians regularly confess their guilty actions and thoughts to a priest.很多基督徒都定期向牧师忏悔他们的罪行和恶念。
• I confess to some suspicion of your honesty.我承认对你的诚实有所怀疑。